Updates, photos, and information about the recent creature sightings at Haystack Rock

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

April 14th - April 20th 2014

Daily Low Tides
Monday, April 14th
0.4' @ 6:58 AM

Tuesday, April 15th
0.0' @ 7:36 AM

Wednesday, April 16th
-0.3' @ 8:14 AM

Thursday, April 17th
-0.5' @ 8:53 AM

Friday, April 18th
-0.5' @ 9:35 AM

Saturday, April 19th
-0.4' @ 10:21 AM

Sunday, April 20th
-0.1 @ 11:13 AM

Notes from the week:
The third week in April was a typical spring week on the North Coast. The weather went from sunny, to pouring rain and strong wind, to sun again, back to rain, and ended with sunny weather but high surf. Our highest visitor count was 110 people in the intertidal at one time during the beach shift on Friday, April 18th; thankfully that was one of the nice days!

It was a busy week for HRAP! On Thursday we kicked off Cannon Beach's annual 12 Days of Earth Day Celebration with the "Welcome Tufted Puffin" ceremony at Haystack Rock. We opened the festivities with students from Seaside Heights Elementary, Cannon Beach Pre-School, and Fire Mountain Elementary by singing a song to welcome the Tufted Puffins back to Haystack Rock. Staff and volunteers also offered educational stations and activities, including searching for Puffins using spotting scopes and learning how adults take care of their chick in a Puffin Parent Relay game. Despite the rain, students had a great time exploring the intertidal and even saw a few Puffins!

Students and parents from local schools sing the ‘Welcome Back Tufted Puffins’ song with HRAP staff and volunteers to kick-off the 12 Days of Earth Day festival.

HRAP Program Coordinator Samantha Ferber talks about Tufted Puffin behavior and nesting, while students search for the birds using a spotting scope and binoculars.

(Photos by Eric Bengel)

Creature Highlights

Invertebrates

Sea Lemon (Anisodoris nobilis)

*Dendronotus Nudibranch (Dendronotus sp.) - first sighting this season

Janolus Nudibranch (Janolus fuscus)

Trilineata Nudibranch (Flabellina trilineata)

Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda crassicornis)

Birds

Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) - 24 birds regularly counted during the week! Spotted flying around the rock and perched in front of burrows on the north slope.